Salt & Vinegar
by clocktick
Summary: Bookverse / Musicalverse. A study on Elphaba’s summer with the good Doctor and the development of her relationships with Galinda and Fiyero- the nitty gritty details and trials of life gone unsaid. Plot diversion. Gliyero. Gelphie. Small Fiyeraba.
1. Preface

1**PREFACE**

_there is a strange sense of humility that one feels nearing their demise. or, perhaps humility isn't the word. shame, rather. that's why dogs crawl under the porch to die, or cats lay under the bed, or hamsters in the very back of their cage. death is an ugly thing. it's messy and cruel and there's no way to make it seem anything other than that. there is no way to die with dignity. you can live with it, but you can never die with it. it doesn't matter if you can walk, talk, or wipe your own ass. death is always ugly, and there is never any dignity in it. _

--

First of all, a few things to know before going into this story. This story takes place in some strange middle ground of Bookverse and Musicalverse. I have read the book thoroughly several times, and of the Musical I have basic knowledge, which I hope should be enough. Fortunately, I have a trip planned for the beginning of July to see the Musical in Memphis. I have the money, now I just need the transportation. Wish my luck, you guys! Secondly, there is a plot, I swear swear swear, it's in there. Just struggle through the needed boringness. This story takes place during her first summer at Shiz while she's working under the Doctor Dillamond, which I don't believe happens in the Musical. But, just know that she's working for him during the summer. Last of all, enjoy yourselves! All thoughts and ideas welcome.

Thank you!

Love,

Wait Just a Clocktick


	2. Chapter 1

**Title** Salt & Vinegar

**Author** clocktick

**Summary** Bookverse / Musicalverse. A study on Elphaba's summer with the good Doctor and the development of her relationships with Galinda and Fiyero- the nitty gritty details and trials of life gone unsaid. The scenes that cut to black and the summarized paragraphs. Plot diversion and creative liberty taken.

**Author's Note** _So, in all honesty, I'm not sure where this story started, where it's going to go, or how far I'm going to take it. If you like stories with thick, thought through plots and a mix of long and short chapters, then I suppose here would be the place to look. Not too much traumatic drama, not too much fluff. Lots of book references, though. If you HAVE NOT read the book, then I highly suggest doing so or else you MIGHT get a little lost. I don't know. Maybe you'll make good. Who knows._

_So, this is my first Wicked fiction. It seems like a good fandom to write in- not TOO many fans, but enough to get my story read. So, I write this for all of you looking for another Wicked fiction to read! Thank you in advanced. Reviews are much love and churn out the chapters faster._

_Love,_

_Wait Just a Clocktick_

Highsummer months were almost upon them and the students at Shiz could so hardly wait to escape the prison-like classrooms in favor of the fashionable and costly cafes- and for the student who had the wealth and class to return home, the warm meeting of missed family members awaited them at the start of the summer season. For Elphaba Thropp, the summer time meant working under the good Goat doctor in the cool confines of his laboratory away from the hot summer sun. Not just because she hadn't the wealth, nor the class, to return the long trek to Nest Hardings, but because there were important things to be discovered and she was to be part of it.

Elphaba turned her face up to the sky, the sun catching her skin, warming it. A breeze tickled her throat and arms, but it was hot just like the air around her. Desperately, the green pole of a girl fanned herself with her thin, long fingers, but to no obvious avail. The University campus was abuzz with the social activity, the sweet humming of friends and lovers filling and coating the air. The smell of grass and sweat was kicked up with the hot, unhelpful breeze and the trampling of the boys who had wandered over from their own dormitory yard to mingle with the girls. A few tables had been dragged from the cafeteria by some of the older boys out onto the grass, obviously meant to house the more popular crowd. However, the dorms were far too hot to get any work done and the library was stifling. So, with her head held high, Elphaba had commandeered one of the smaller tables for her own use, spreading her books and papers all over. No one dared take it from her.

Dabbing at her forehead with the fabric of her shawl, which had been promptly shrugged off when the full force of the sun hit her, Elphaba wiped away the beads of sweat which made her skin singe and tingle uncomfortably. The young woman often found herself alone, but rarely lonely. She should think Nessarose was in the shade somewhere out of the heat with her new friends- with Master Boq and the like. She would hate for her sister's pretty pale skin to freckle.

The green Thropp yawned, feeling lazy, but knowing as well exams were almost upon them. To discourage students from skipping classes the last few days before they were let out for the Highsummer, exams were taking place the last three days of the final semester. This didn't bother Elphie, but her peers were feeling the pressure.

A few more dabs at her forehead with the crumbled shawl and Elphaba were ready to admit defeat.

"Miss Elphaba! Oh, Miss Elphie!"

The shrill squeaking quality of the voice brought dread and shivers to the green girl, who shrank into her school work, pretending to be very engrossed studying for her exam. The sound of insensible shoes on the grass seemed muted in their approach, but before long a soft pale face was peering at her from across the stolen table. Galinda leaned her palms on the smooth wood, flanked by Pfanne and Shenshen, Fiyero, the Vinkus Prince and his lacky Avaric and another girl that Elphaba didn't recognize. Her blonde roommate smiled sweetly, falsely, curling one looping strand of hair around and around on her slender, pale finger. Even with her face flushed and coated with a fine sheen of perspiration, she was still painfully beautiful. Flustered, Elphaba wiped her face with her shawl.

"Yes, Miss Galinda?" the green girl questioned, kindly. The blonde twitched her smile up a few watts.

"Miss Elphaba. Do you like my dress? It's new."

"It's lovely," Elphaba replied, but Galinda barreled on.

"Yes. It's my new very favoritest dress, and I would hate to have it all dirtied by sitting in the grass. But I would very much like to sit out in the sun and you see all the other tables are taken–"

Elphaba rolled her chocolate eyes and pulled her scattered books and papers to her, leaving plenty of space for the others. She set all her things in a neat pile on the bench beside her. "Be my guest, Miss Galinda."

Pfanne made a strange face, with her lip pulled back much like a bulldog, and the boys exchanged hesitant looks. However, the blonde took charge and swept herself onto the bench across from Elphaba and pointedly looked at the others to sit as well. They did, assembling themselves in a close-knit little group. It seemed crowded- able to tell when she wasn't wanted, she shifted to leave them to their own devices and perhaps see if there was a spot in the shade she could bully a few of the other students out of.

"Oh, are you taking off so soon, Miss Elphaba?" Avaric needled, his pretty pale face twisted in a smirk. The green girl fixed him with an unamused stare, refusing to be his enabler. She gathered her books and such in her arms, hugging them close to her chest. Her glasses slid down on her nose from the sweat that tingled her skin, irritating it. "Why don't you stay, catch some sun, get some... _color_."

Pfanne, Shenshen, and the unnamed girl roared in false laughter- perhaps they thought it was funny, but desperate for the attention of a male, the hormonal female would do anything. Galinda said nothing, pretending she was above such silliness, turning her attention onto Fiyero, giggling to him instead, where he sat at her side. And oh, how stupidly male he was- he fell into her viper trap, sucked into her society girl giggle and curl-twirl around that long index finger.

Be careful, Elphaba thought, the female praying mantis bites the head off her mates as soon as the coupling is complete. Or would she be a Praying Mantis? Were there insects with Life?

"Aw, do stay," Shenshen snorted. "A little sun would be good for you. You're looking a bit green about..- the..- _gills_!" The young woman could hardly snort out her sentence, practically choking on her last word, an uproar of delight and snorting, unattractive laughter.

This time Galinda looked up to see Elphaba's reaction- but she did nothing other than quietly step over the bench and extract herself from the situation. Over her shoulder, she could hear the blonde chastising her friends. "Now, why would you do that? She's going off to sulk now, and most likely in our _shared_ room, if you do remember such a horrid predicament that was forced upon _me_, your very best friend. Why would you subject me to such torture? Oh, I do hate it when she sulks. She does tend to go on so."

Elphaba returned to the dorms, despite that it was hot and would do no better for her school work than if she were to stay out there with Galinda and her friends of sorts. She threw open the window and tried to catch a stray breeze here and there. It was oddly futile. She thought to walk down the stairs and see if Nessarose was in her room or across campus somewhere. It was very strange, to see little Nessa being on her own. To be rolling her own wheels- or having Boq do it for her. But then, it shouldn't be a surprise.

"Nessarose is everyone's favorite," she murmured softly, pulling her hair out of its custom braid and shaking it out around her shoulders. It clung to her cheeks and throat, and she swiped at herself, glaring at herself in the vanity mirror across the room. She jerked her chin this way and that, wrinkled her prow of a nose, rose and scrunched her arched brows. She felt very silly but quietly went to sit at the vanity's chair, looking closely in the mirror.

She was not . . . ugly, Elphaba decided, but rather _exotic,_ though she was green for Oz's sake. Her face wasn't too oddly proportioned, but her nose could serve to be a little smaller, her chin perhaps a little less sharp. Elphie turned her head left, then right. She wrinkled her nose again before letting her face relax. The muscles fell into a natural scowl. She shook her head forcefully, trying to will the scary expression away. When she looked a second time, her visage was much more relaxed, calm, natural. It was all very unfeminine. Her brows wouldn't suffer from a little plucking, perhaps, the wild things.

The young woman sighed and picked up her brush from her side of the vanity ( as it was shared with Galinda, but the blonde had no real respect for the 'line rule' when it came to sharing a dormitory room; not to say that Elphaba _used_ the vanity at all but for a quick glance to make sure her braid was straight and she wasn't wearing her dress backwards ). She drug the bristled through her hair, brushing it until it pulled straight through. When she let it fall around her shoulders, it framed her face and made everything seem less hawk-like. It softened her. And disgusted her.

Throwing her brush onto the vanity tablet, Elphaba tied back her hair swiftly at the base of her neck and jumped from her seat at the vanity, knocking the chair backwards. The heat! It was unbearable!

"Of course," Elphaba sighed in relief. "Dillamond's lab . . . " It would surely be cool there. Grabbing her bag, the green girl left in a swish of skirts, closing the door behind her. It wasn't a long walk to the lab- she could see the window from her dormitory. As she walked, she looked out across the grasses toward where she had abandoned her table and let her roommate with her friends. Galinda's laughter drifted across the lawn. Elphaba could see Fiyero with one arm toss over the blonde's shoulders. Avaric was telling some story of sorts- he stood on the table, waving his arms and laughing through his words. The others goaded him on.

She snorted as she turned the corner of the stone walk way, carrying onto the laboratory. Part of her was jealous of their fun- another part was irritated with them. Could they think of nothing _stimulating_ to speak on? The jealous part of her mind yearned to be included in their little reindeer games. Perhaps if she was not so . . . well, perhaps if she was not so as she was, she would be better accepted into her roommate's circle. Or, rather, a circle of intellectuals her own age. Yes. A group of friends who would not stare at her skin or her face or anything else that was sorely wrong with her, but rather talk _to_ her about her thoughts, her opinions ( of which she had many ) and heard what she had to say ( of which she never shut up ). She wouldn't want to get involved with the fluff and banter that Galinda and her friends often did partake in. It would be too sweet, to sugary, and she would melt from perspiration of embarrassment.

However, what she wanted she did not have and never one to be greedy, Elphaba decided that was just fine with her.

"Miss Elphaba!" The Goat crowed as he opened up the back door of his lab. Doctor Dillamond was a thick Goat with a long throat. His goatee hung long and white, fading into the tan that was his fur. He looked down at her with a cocked head, peering at her with his large eyes. His big ears twitched back and forth- there was a nitch in one of them. Out of all her classes- most of them to do with sorcery -Life Sciences was her very favorite and she knew she would never be able to deny it. The good doctor inspired her with his enthusiasm. He instilled her with the need to _help_ the growing tension amongst the Animals. The growing problem, the tyranny that seemed to befall them. It was why she had applied for a job with him over the summer. Though her natural adept was sorcery, her passion was activism.

"Thank you, Doctor," Elphaba said as she accepted the invitation to pour herself some juice. Just as she suspected, it was cool and comforting in the dark concrete of the lab. She watched around her glass as the Goat settled himself onto a stool, grunting with his weight. She placed the glass between her knees as she settled across from him.

"I've just gotten your recommendation letter from Madame Head to allow you to work for me this summer," Dillamond said casually, his big dark eyes seeming to flicker with warmth and emotion. "Aren't you on a sorcery course, Miss Thropp? Whatever good could you do working under me during the Highsummer? Shouldn't you be going home to see your family?"

Elphaba squirmed under his questioning. "Nessarose and I are staying here for the summer. She starts her own course study in the fall, as you know. With her the way she is, we can hardly make a trip back and forth to Nest Hardings. Father's opted for us to remain here, and for me to work and care for my sister, which I would do gratefully either way. I enjoy your class, Doctor Dillamond. Next year I won't have the luxury of Life Sciences anymore. I'd like to learn from you- perhaps . . . perhaps I can write for you. You not having thumbs must make it hard to record your findings, your research. I can do that for you. I'm a quick writer, with clean handwriting." Elphaba realized she was on the verge of pleading.

But the Goat just laughed his braying laugh. "Miss Elphaba, you are welcomed with open arms. The first week of Highsummer, then? I will look forward to seeing you."

Warmth spread through her. This was the expectation of something _good_. Excitement. She liked the feeling, and grasped her juice glass in place of grasping the feeling.

She stayed until the sun looked ready to drop. They talked of unimportant things, frivolous things, but Elphaba found herself enjoying the less than stimulating conversations. They spoke on what her course study next year would consist of and of how her rooming situation with Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands was turning out to be. That one lead to many an anecdote, told by Elphaba, of the times she had shared with her roomie over the past two semesters. When there was nothing further to talk on, she left. With delight still coursing through her, Elphaba waved goodbye to Dillamond and gathered her things, striding around to the girls dorms.

"Miss Elphaba!"

The sound caused the young woman in question to lift her head from where she watched her shoes ( sensible walking boots of a leather variety ). Her chocolate eyes twisted and searched until she turned her head to see who was calling her. From across the girl's dormitory lawn strode the tan-skinned prince, his sandy hair tucked back out of his face with a leather tie. Elphaba stopped in her very tracks, staring down her roommate's lover as he approached. He had addressed her only twice before- addressed her by her name, that is. Once was in greeting upon Galinda's formal, stiff introduction when she had waltzed in on them in the near middle of a tryst. The second time was when she'd nearly run him over in her hurry to get to class on time around the middle of the semester. Other than that, she got little to no recognition from him.

Needless to say, she was suspicious.

"Master Prince," Elphaba drawled, mockingly, as soon as he was within ear shot.

But Fiyero only smiled. His smile didn't quite fit his face and he looked less handsome when he did so. "How are you, Miss Elphaba?" He asked.

"I'm leaving," she grunted, moving to sweep around him. "Good evening, Master Fiyero."

"Wait a moment, now," he said, a little softer. Against her better judgement, Elphaba waited. "I know Galinda isn't the most diplomatic in most situations. I know better than most. But she didn't upset you today, did she, taking over your table?"

Elphie blinked her big eyes two quick times before she shrugged. "I had things to do. I gladly gave her my table, she didn't take it."

Fiyero wrinkled his nose, and he looked handsome doing _that_, before shrugging his broad shoulders. "Then I suppose no forgiveness would need to be asked for."

Elphaba sniffed. "No, I suppose not."

"Good evening, then, Miss Elphaba. Pleasant dreams."

Elphaba trudged on past him, saying nothing and expecting no other words to come from him. She continued onto the girl's dormitory, shoving the mild confrontation into the very back of her mind.

Once inside, before she climbed the steps, she went to Nessa's room to bid her good evening, but she wasn't there. Only marginally disappointed, Elphaba ascended the steps and skulked into her own room, throwing her books at the foot of her bed.

Galinda poked her head out of the joined bathroom, peering distrusting at the green girl, who flopped onto her bedding lazily. She sniffed and disappeared behind the white door once more. Something must have been bothering her, but Elphaba didn't care to find out. Galinda talked to her very little, and when she was upset she talked to her even less. Elphaba was often alone, but she was _not_ lonely and especially not for company like Galinda's.

It didn't matter, anyway. Her stomach still curdled with her growing anxiety for exam's to be over, and her good deeds, to all of Oz, to all of Animal-kind, to begin.


	3. Chapter 2

1**Title** Salt & Vinegar

**Author** clocktick

**Summary** Bookverse / Musicalverse. A study on Elphaba's summer with the good Doctor and the development of her relationships with Galinda and Fiyero- the nitty gritty details and trials of life gone unsaid. The scenes that cut to black and the summarized paragraphs. Plot diversion and creative liberty taken.

**Author's Note** _Well! Here you go! Chapter 2, coming out faster than I thought it would. I had actually a bit more planned to end this chapter with, but as I was typing it up from my notebook I realized that where I ended it was a good place to end it. Something to get the ball rolling. I hope you all enjoy it and, hopefully, Chapter 3 won't be far behind._

_Love,_

_Wait Just a Clocktick_

"Miss Elphaba."

The tone was nearly scolding, though more annoyed than anything, and the girl in question glanced up from what she was going to face her blond roommate, who wore a very serious expression. Galinda stood at the foot of her bed with her hands pressed to her hips and her thin, delicate wrists looking ready to snap at the slightest pressure. Confused, Elphaba raised one severely arched eyebrow.

"What?" she snapped sharply.

Galinda raised her hands and tapped her wrist theatrically with two fingers, indicating the time. Elphaba glanced at the wall clock. It ticked near midnight.

"Some of us need rest and sleep, Miss Elphaba. We can't all be nocturnal. I need my beauty sleep, regardless if _you_ need yours. Turn off your lamp." The blonde scowled prettily. The green girl felt momentarily floored and a little taken aback at how cruel her companion could really be.

"We have our life science's exam in the morning. I don't care if you fail, but _I'm_ getting my last minute studying in. I would think you would be doing the same. Your books haven't left your bag all week." Elphaba turned her face away, hoping to disappear behind the thick cover of her Life Sciences text and hoping that she had won this argument, but she didn't hope too much. Galinda sighed heavily, throwing her hands into the air in exaggerated exasperation. Out of nowhere, two pale hands shot down and pulled the book right out of an unsuspecting green lap. She snapped it closed and dropped it on the floor by the bed.

"Lights _out_, Miss Elphie!" demanded Galinda.

"How very mature," the green girl sniffed, reaching off the bed to retrieve her book. Galinda dove at the same time to place her hands on top of it so she could yank it away. The roommates knocked heads. Elphaba hissed and recoiled, her glasses askew and her hands clamped to her forehead. The blonde took the more theatrical root.

"Oh, oh! Look what you've done, you stupidly clumsy fool!" She wailed, rubbing her forehead, kneading the small knot that was forming on her pale skin. "Why couldn't you have just let it be?"

"Why couldn't _you_ just let _me_ be? Stop your fretting. It's only a bump."

"Oh, you're so hardheaded!" Galinda whimpered quietly, retreating to sit on her own bed. Elphaba couldn't quite tell if that comment was directed in a literal sense or not, but the sting was there. She shoved her notebook off the bed in defeat. Galinda wrinkled her nose and eyed her roommate carefully. However, she said nothing and instead flopped back onto her mattress and pulled the covers up to her chin, turning her back on the whole ordeal.

Elphie sighed, scooting back and leaning against her headboard before reaching one lanky arm over to click off the lamp on the bedside table. In the silence, with the darkness and the breeze of the cool summer nighttime air, Elphaba was able to let her mind wander. The blond had never been overly cordial. In fact, some nights she had been down right nasty. However, she had never gotten so close to actually making skin to skin contact. Elphie wondered if the novelty of her absurd color was wearing off- or if perhaps Galinda was just used to her by now. Did that mean the sweet-faced blond was capable of depth? Capable of edging past her shallow waters to see _something_ past the skin? Some _personality_ trait that irked her?

Elphaba settled under her blankets, nestling her cheek against the cool fabric of her pillow. Her roommate wasn't worth the speculation, nor the missed sleep. Deep or shallow, she was certainly bothersome.

The sound of the shower running and the gurgle of water through the pipes awoke the green girl from her dreamless slumber. She blinked the sleep away from her eyes and sat up, stretching and yawning like a cat. She uncoiled from her blanket cocoon, pulling her hair out of its braid. A shiver coursed along her spine at the sound of the water that battered relentlessly against the shower walls.

Elphaba dressed quickly as to avoid the sneering, sighing and huffing that would surely ensue should her roommate emerge from the bathroom. Galinda didn't approve of her simple, plain, _sensible_ dresses and would make sure her opinion was known. Clothes were clothes. Elphie didn't see the problem. The one time she had voided this the blonde nearly had a fit.

"Oh, Miss Elphie!" Galinda had sighed, her voice higher than usual. "When people see you, you already make the wrongest first impression. When you open your mouth to speak you only make it worse. People _see_ you first. It's the way you're _viewed_! And all those simple ugly frocks you wear! Really, Miss Elphaba. No wonder you're always on your own."

To avoid further outbursts like that, Elphaba refrained from dressing in front of her roommate.

She gathered her school things into her shoulder bag and dropped it on her bed before skirting over to the vanity. Grabbing her brush, she yanked it through her hair swiftly, wincing when she got the bristles caught on a knot. Her brown eyes peered back at her from the mirror as she twined three chunks of her hair into one long braid. Her glasses perched on the edge of her nose and she pushed them higher with her pinky. She suddenly felt very silly looking at herself. Just as she was knotting the end of her braid with a hair tie, the bathroom door opened and out flounced Galinda, her hair spell-dried and flawlessly curled. Elphaba couldn't get away fast enough from the vanity. Galinda spotted her and laughed dryly.

"I'd never think you one to primp, Miss Elphaba."

The green girl growled, jumping from the vanity, letting her braid swing around one shoulder. "I'm not primping, Miss Galinda. That's much better suited for you."

Galinda sighed and muttered something under her breath, something Elphie couldn't quite make out. Grabbing her things off the brown covers of her bed, she whirled around to exit the room. However, the blond stood threateningly in her way. Elphaba wrinkled her nose and shifted from foot to foot.

"You know, I think if you put on just a little make-up–"

"Oh, _really_ now!" Elphie snapped, thoroughly annoyed. "Don't be ridiculous. Now, shoo. Don't you have exams to go to?" The green whirlwind swept past her roommate stiffly, her annoyance bubbling over into her voice. The door slammed shut behind her, shuttering against its hinges. Elphaba couldn't help feeling mildly satisfied with her gracefully offended exit.

Her initial irritation died away with each step down to the first floor of the building. Galinda had forced Elphie into a bit of a flurry and in her rush to escape the blond she had left far too early for exams. So, calmer down and with a bit clearer head, she wandered to Nessarose's single room, big enough to accommodate her chair and adjacent to Madame Morrible's own private room. She knocked swiftly at the door, listening to the sounds of drawers closer before the sweet voice of her sister floated through the door. "Come in!"

Elphaba did just that, creaking up the door and poking her head through the small opening before sleeping inside the room, quiet as she knew how. Nessarose had wheeled herself in front of the vanity and she was brushing her chin-length brown hair. The younger Thropp sister was of normal color- soft pale skin peeked exposed from where her modest dress didn't cover her slightly muscled arms. She was tragically beautiful, as many people had put it. She turned her head to beam in warmth at her sister.

"Good morning, Fabala!" Nessarose exclaimed, setting down her brush in favor of wheeling herself around to face her green-skinned sibling. "It's lovely to see you. You've been so scarce lately. I have a right mind to be upset with you. Come here and tie my hair with a ribbon." Elphie went, ignoring the old childhood nickname that Nessa had dug up.

"I've been studying hard," Elphaba answered lamely, dropping her school bag by the door. She smoothed back her baby sister's bangs and tied the silky red ribbon around her hair. Nessarose sat erectly and still, her eyes fluttering closed.

"I've still missed you around. When all your exams are finished, you'll push me around campus again, won't you?" Nessarose opened her eyes as Elphaba came back around to kneel in front of the heavy chair. She placed her green hands in Nessa's lap, watching them disappearing under her sister's palms.

"Of course. We'll have the whole summer." Elphie murmured, a little guiltily. She had yet to tell Nessa about her job over the summer season with Dillamond. In fact, she hadn't told anyone.

"Good," Nessa said lightly, pulling her hands away and wheeling herself back a few feet. "Now, walk me across campus, would you Fabala? My arms are tired from pushing me all this time without you to do it for me."

Elphaba greatly obliged. She was devoted to her. Nessa was crass, holy and crass, with no real adept for diplomacy. She looked down her nose in the name of the Unnamed God. She loved a being without a name more than she would ever love her sister. But she was helpless- unable to walk because of her own sister's hideous green skin. Her wicked affliction had caused her sister's inability to use her legs- she would never know the joy or exhilaration of running in stocking-less feet, nor the feel of hot stones on her soles. It was all her fault that her sister would be denied such simple little joys. And so, Elphie was devoted to her.

They strolled across the campus at a leisurely pace. Nessarose slung her sister's bag over one arm of her wheeled chair and held her own books in her lap. They chattered lightly about this and that, unimportant things, really. Nessarose told a story of a miracle that the Unnamed God had preformed and Elphaba scolded her for her naivety. They teased one another like they were children before Nessa became offended and wouldn't say anymore. Elphie had to apologize for several minutes before the younger girl would smile tensely. Before they parted, Nessa asked her sister to join her in prayer. To make her happy, she did.

She had to jog across campus to make it back to her lecture hall so she wouldn't be late for her Life Sciences exam. When she stumbled, panting a little, into her class a few eyes turned to stare, but she was far less concerned than she had been at the beginning of the semester. She carefully smoothed back a few loose tuffs of stark black hair before striding confidently to her seat near the front of the room.

The students returned to their quiet murmur, as if she had never entered.

"I thought you were going to be late."

Elphie turned around in her seat. Master Boq smiled warmly, leaning forward to speak to her more easily. She wrinkled her nose slightly, but let her expression fall away to something more cordial. Boq was . . . sweet, in his way, if not a little too small for a man. But they were both Munchkinlanders, she of better blood and full height.

"Then you know little about me, Master Boq," she said, teasing him. "I haven't much of a social life to hinder me. My academics are all I have."

"What about me? I thought we were friends."

"You use me to get to your so-desperately-wish-she-was-your-own Galinda."

"We talk nicely, Miss Elphaba. I don't talk to Galinda. At least, not the way we talk. I consider us friends."

Elphaba was touched but she didn't show it. Instead she sniffed and turned around. "And I consider you Boq."

"No honorific?"

"None."

"Then that is as good."

Elphaba smiled a little bit, brushing her fingers thoughtfully against her lips to hide the motion. Boq didn't have another chance to make the green girl feel warm in her chest from his kindness. Into the room swept Doctor Dillamond, plump and furry, his hoofed feet clunking against the wood floor. He moved with a strange bumbling grace to the front of the room and Elphie sat straighter in her seat. The goat took his place at the head of the class.

He blinked his big eyes at them all, his ears flicking back and forth, probably catching every sound to the very back row. "What is life?" He asked, his voice echoing. Elphaba, eager to impress, shot up her hand.

"Yes, Miss Elphaba?"

"Life is having consciousness." She replied, her voice shuddering down to something a little less confident. "It's growing and living."

"And what is Life, Miss Thropp?"

Elphie tugged at her braid quietly. "Life," she annunciated the capital letter. "is having consciousness and a conscience. Having a. . . spirit. Things with Life have emotions. They have pain and joy and love."

Doctor Dillamond brayed quietly under his breath. "Very good. Anyone else? What is Life? Do plants ever become Plants?"

"Maybe. How would we ever know?" A student near the back spoke up.

"Exactly!" Dillamond said, stomping his hoof on the floor. "We'll never know because no one _wants_ to know. Have any of you been reading the papers lately? Do you know what's going on outside Shiz? Anyone? Anyone?" He paused, looking across the room. "Ah. Yes, Miss Glinda?"

"_Ga_linda." She said, but her effort to correct him was halfhearted. She seemed somber. "The Wizard's Banns on Animal Mobility. Mumsie wrote me a letter about it."

"And what is that?" Dillamond challenged. "Anyone?"

No one spoke.

"Banns on Animal Mobility," he said quietly. "Animals- Animals with Life just like you, and you, and even you Miss _Ga_linda Upland -have had their travel, lodging, and public services _restricted_. Effective a few weeks ago. As well, no Animal coming of age is allowed to ending the work force. I've been a teacher here for longer than Morrible has been Head, they cannot touch me. But my rights are being stripped from me. Why do you think such a thing would happen?"

All was silent.

"Why indeed," Dillamond answered his own question. The class was tense. Everyone was enjoying the break from the stress of exams, loving the theatrics of it all. The drama. The rumors. Elphaba merely felt sick. She had known that the Animals were having their civil rights infringed upon; she knew that they were struggling to be seen as first class citizens; she knew there was _tension_. Her stomach churned on itself and she slouched in her seat.

The Goat finally raised his head from where he had buried his face into the flat of his hooves. "Well. You've all got an Exam to take. Someone, come help me pass out the papers."

The rest of the hour dragged on slowly, tensely. Not even the slower students passed notes to try and cheat, nor whispered quietly the right answers to their friends. Doctor Dillamond sat in the front of the class, peering indifferently out the window. The whole class could have gotten up and changed seats without him noticing. When the majority of the class had finished and the last few students were placing their papers on the front desk, the good Goat doctor waved one tired hoof and simply stated, "Class dismissed."

Completely forgetting the Goat's earlier distress, the students jollied from the classroom, all delight and laughter. Elphaba Thropp didn't move. She stayed fervently glue to her seat. Boq called her name once, but a friend- a better friend than she -called after him and he too disappeared around the corner.

Elphaba stood slowly from where she sat. Doctor Dillamond was staring out the window and his shoulders shook. The green girl placed one thin hand on his arm, but he didn't move. A few quiet moments passed before Elphie got the lump out of her throat enough to speak.

"Doctor . . . ? Are you all right? Sir, if there is anything possible that I can do, anything at all . . . "

The Goat lifted his head to look at her. A very grave expression crossed his face. "Oh, Miss Elphaba . . . Something . . . _bad_ is happening in Oz."


	4. Chapter 3

1**Title** Salt & Vinegar

**Author** clocktick

**Summary** Bookverse / Musicalverse. A study on Elphaba's summer with the good Doctor and the development of her relationships with Galinda and Fiyero- the nitty gritty details and trials of life gone unsaid. The scenes that cut to black and the summarized paragraphs. Plot diversion and creative liberty taken.

**Author's Note** _Yeah, wow, Chapter 3. I feel silly for being discouraged by lack of feedback. But I like to write, and I'm having fun writing, and if I don't get one single review then, well, that's that. _

_I didn't really expect to write this until after the weekend, but I was sitting here with nothing left to do, and it practically wrote itself. I'm not sure if I'm too happy with a few parts, but I'm still getting the hang of how my Elphaba likes to act. She's being evasive with telling me how to write her personality in an agreeable way. Ho-hum._

_Well, enjoy!_

_Love,_

_Wait Just a Clock Tick_

_--_

Elphaba returned to her dorm room on the last day of exams tired and fulfilled, nervous and fidgety. Her anxiety was only worsened by finding Galinda in the room, sitting at the vanity, brushing her beautiful curls. They didn't get caught in the bristled, but rather yielded under the slightest pressure. The blond didn't look up and Elphaba didn't want her to. Instead, she dropped her school bag at the foot of her bed and flopped onto the painfully uncomfortable mattress. She reached under her bed and groped for a few moments until she retrieved a thick book. It was a history of Oz, written from unionist, paganist, royalist, and pleasure faith views, all compiled into one thick book. It wasn't overly entertaining to read, but it was informative despite its lack of interest. Sometimes she read the words as poetry, but she wasn't very good at that either so it often made even less sense.

Elphie settled back against her pillows and propped the heavy book up on her stomach. She had just begun to drift away when another voice dragged her back.

"Miss Elphaba?"

Galinda Upland's voice was quiet and nearly tentative. She seemed to be in a well enough mood, but Elphie was suspicious. She raised her eyes and dropped her book against her chest. "What is it, Miss Galinda?" She asked, keeping her voice level, trying to keep her suspicion at bay. Who knew that the pretty blond wanted?

"What are you reading? I'm interested. You always seem to have your face stuck into a book. It's not very becoming."

Elphaba ignored the last comment, choosing instead to answer her question has politely as she had been taught how. "It's a history book," she said. In the vanity's mirror she caught Galinda's reflection and how her nose wrinkled and her tongue poked out from between her pale lips. She resisted the urge to laugh at the ugly expression. "It tells the history of Oz through different religious and nonreligious views."

Galinda didn't look interested. She played with her curls, setting her elbows on the top of the vanity. "Why would you want to read something like _that_? It sounds so dreadfully boring."

Elphaba shrugged her shoulders. "It kind of is," she admitted, tracing her fingers over the binding.

"Then why read it?" her roomie pressed, turning in her chair to fix the green girl with a strong stare. She continued to stare, in fact, her bright green eyes unblinking. It was almost disturbing.

She shrugged again, becoming irritated with the blond's sudden interest. "I'm curious about all that sort of stuff. I mean, if you ask one hundred different people how Oz came to be, you'll get one hundred different stories. If that's the case, then there can be no real answer unless you find the median. Like arithmetic. If you add up all the different stories together, divide by the similarities and the differences, then there will _have_ to be some sort of middle ground . . . " She trailed away, raising her eyes back to Galinda, who had turned back to the vanity mirror. She thought that the blond would simply go back to her preening. But Elphaba Thropp was surprised.

"Well if they all can't come up with one theory on how Oz was created- or established, or _came to be_, what have you -then there's no certain way to know for sure, is there? Then why would they continue to argue about it? It seems silly to me. All that wasted time arguing when they could be doing your silly arithmetic himmy-who."

Elphaba gasped, but she didn't mean to. "Miss Galinda. I don't think I'd ever heard you say something so . . . so . . . so _intelligent_!"

Galinda spun around promptly to shoot her a very hard glare. "Goodness gracious, Miss Elphie! I was accepted to Shiz because I'm _smart_, you know."

Elphaba had the sense to look chastised but only for a moment. She wrinkled her nose and scoffed quietly. "Well no one would ever know it, not with the way you flounce about like a living portrait. You act like nothing more than a society dame. You just chose to parade yourself around like nothing more than . . . than a dumb blond! Of course I would be surprised when you just sneak up on me with something like that. Why you would shut away your intelligence up like that I haven't the faintest clue. It's not becoming."

"I don't see _you_ gallivanting about with as many friends as _me_. I'm not the one doing it wrong, Miss Elphaba." Galinda sniffed, obviously hurt and ready to hurt back. The green girl tried not to feel the sting of her words, but it was near impossible. Galinda was near impossible. She thought, perhaps, the rooming situation would lessen the tension between them. Perhaps their utter loathing upon first sight would lessen. But it was only diluted. Galinda was still mean, cruel, nothing but the society dame she portrayed herself to be. It was disgusting and Elphaba was filled with distaste.

"Your ability to be so shrewd astounds me." She said firmly, folding her book against the mattress, swinging her legs over the edge of her bed. She placed her elbows on her knees and leaned forward, twining her fingers in and out of each other, a puzzle of green sticks. "Why must you be so . . . so _mean_?"

The blond only snorted. When she did it, it was attractive. "Why must you be so _you_? Go back to your stupid boring book. I'm going out tonight. I've got to ready myself. You're distracting me from looking my very best."

Elphaba wrinkled her nose slightly, but fell silent. She tried to settle back on her bed and continue with her reading, but now she was all flustered and room was tense. Instead, she observed Galinda over the top of her book while the blond continued to get ready. Now that she allowed herself to actually look at her roommate, she saw that she _was_ wearing some clothes of particular good taste. White stockings covered her legs and ankles, disappearing into a small pair of ballet slippers. She wore a pretty pinkish dress, not too frilled. In fact, it was rather classy, but then Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands was the definition of _class_ if not also the definition of _rude_ and _snobby_. In the reflection of the vanity mirror, Elphaba could see that the neckline of the dress dipped just a bit little passed modest, but nothing that would make anyone think they had a chance with her for a tryst.

A good half hour of getting ignored passed before Galinda finally jumped up and grabbed her purse that hung off the closet door handle. She hitched it up to her shoulder and promptly left the room. The door shuttered on its hinges and the green skinned girl was startled from her own thoughts.

All was quiet for a good ten minutes. Elphie didn't move. She didn't want to. But the hush was certainly getting to her. She fidgeted and flipped a few pages through her book before finally it was much too much. She jumped up from her bed and threw on her boots before stomping from her room as well. She wasn't sure where she was going, but she knew she needed to get out of the building. Perhaps take a walk around campus. Exams were over. Highsummer was officially upon them and the start of the summer season was beginning. Girls filled the halls of the dormitory building, all laughter and smiles, with their doors open, talking to one another, visiting each other. The girls who were heading home in a few days were all tears and goodbye's. Those who were to stay were all envious stares and fake smiles. Elphie was almost glad she had failed to make any friends. She wouldn't be subjected to such ridiculous antics. Anyone would associate with her hadn't the means to travel away for the summer.

So Elphaba walked. She exited the building and made her way across the grounds- past the boy's dorms, the lecture halls, the court yard, and into a small thicket of trees that ran behind the cafeteria kitchens. The sun was getting low and heavy in the sky and orange light was tossed against her skin. She looked down at her own arms. The green skin looked oddly soft in the lighting. She stretched her arms out in front of her and let her braid fall down her back, stretching her face up toward the sun as it broke through the trees.

The sound of crunching grass alerted her of her lack of privacy. An annoyed growl rolled from her lips. She ducked herself behind a tree, her heart thundering in her chest. Her brown eyes flickered upwards, to a branch that just about touched her head. Carefully, and as quietly as she could manage, she reached her hands up and wrapped her palms around the rough bark of the branch. Clumsily and ungracefully, banging her knees and thighs and calves several times in the process, Elphaba scurried up the tree like a squirrel, hiding in it's branches and leaves, finding a small niche to place her butt.

She peered through the branches to see who had come wandering back here at this time of day. The whole campus was abuzz with celebration. Exams were over. The semester was over. For the older students, it meant a certain sense of freedom. It meant going out into the world. Doing their part. For the younger students, like herself, it meant only two more years of this strange institution of a college. Elphaba barely contained a gasp when she saw the handsome face of the Vinkus Prince through her little curtain of branches and leaves. She shrank back against her tree. He looked confused and lost, like he wasn't sure _why_ he was back there. He turned in a full circle before huffing in what seemed like frustration. Elphie couldn't choke back her words, and they flew unchecked from her mouth.

"What are you doing here?"

Fiyero of the Vinkus jumped a little and he jerked his head around. His eyes landed on the tree. A smug little smile trickled over his lips and she almost wished she hadn't say anything at all. "Why, Madame Tree! Why would you like to know?"

"Tell me now or I'll tip over and fall right on top of you."

Fiyero laughed. He somehow made it sound biting and mean. "Come down from there, Miss Elphaba. What are you doing up in a tree?"

"I climbed it." Elphaba lowered herself onto the lowest branch, clamping her knees tight together so he couldn't see up her skirts. She swung her legs, crossed at the ankles, beneath her. "Now I repeat. What are you doing here?"

"I saw you come in here on your own. I thought you were in some sort of trouble. You looked . . . oh, I don't know. Unhappy."

"I'm always unhappy," Elphaba barked. It wasn't true but she didn't feel bad for saying it. "Or at least I always look it. Aren't you supposed to be out with Miss Galinda? She dressed up so pretty before she left the room."

Fiyero cocked his head to the side before giving it a little shake. "No, I don't believe so. Galinda went off with Pfanne and Shenshen. I just saw her off into town in one of the carriages."

"Oh." Elphie fell silent, swinging her legs, nothing but the sound of the _swish swish swish_ of her skirts passing between them.

"Why don't you come down from there?" He asked. "Ladies don't climb trees."

"Oh, but I'm not a lady," she said. "Not a lady, not at all. Besides, a lady or not, it's not proper to be with a boy without a chaperon. This tree is our chaperon." She patted the old bark lovingly.

"Since when have you ever been proper?"

"And you're one to judge," Elphie said, irritated at his informality. "You hardly know me, Master Vinkus Prince Your Highness Royalty. Why are you here, really? What silly game are you out to play? Do you wish to tease me so you can return to my roomie with a story of my humiliation so she'll pat your head like the good little lap dog you are?"

"My, you _are_ disapproving." Fiyero seemed utterly unfazed by all of it. The biting edge to her voice, her carefully orchestrated, elegant insults. He let it all slid with a level of indifference that she could never posses. It angered and fascinated her. But then, she wondered if he was simple too slow to get the full effect. She scowled before shifting herself forward on the branch. She meant to lower herself rather gracefully and _properly_ to the ground, but her hands slipped and she fell, gracelessly and improperly, off her branch. She hit the ground with a rough _thud!_ in a small little heap.

"Ah, look, the apple finally fell from the tree."

"Now who's disapproving?" Elphie sniffed, pushing herself to her feet, brushing her skirts off and smoothing her hands in her hair. Her pride was only a little bruised. Other than that, she seemed in tact. "I'm leaving now."

Fiyero shrugged his shoulders and swept one hand back toward the path that lead behind the kitchens. "Be my guest. I'll escort you to your building."

"You _really_ don't have to do that," she told him firmly, holding up two hands. "And you would do well to tell me why you followed me before I get annoyed with you."

"Is it not enough that I wanted to make sure that you were well, Miss Elphaba? You're Galinda's roommate and I assume some sort of friendship has blossomed . . . ?"

Elphie snorted. "Does she not go on about how I go _on_? Miss Galinda feels for me no more than she feels for the dirt on her shoes."

Fiyero looked appalled. "Oh, you surely don't believe _that_. I don't. Galinda doesn't talk unkindly of you. Not anymore."

"Then she has become indifferent to me, not fond. Fill that empty head of yours with some common sense, would you?"

Elphaba wouldn't stay for any more of his silly talk. She shrugged her way around him and walk swiftly from his presence. He didn't follow her, not this time. Her mind was muddled and she was much too tired from her exams to think much on what he said or to put any weight into his following her. She had a bit of a reputation for reading too far into something that wasn't there as much as she had a reputation for her conspiracy theories. And so, she would not. She put his words and the fact that he had followed her, away into the back of her mind. He was just another person finding her quirks entertaining enough to fathom the idea of a somewhat friendship with her. However, just like any other person, he would pass.

She knew that she was not traditionally presented, but on the grounds of being female she was subject to all the affairs of the heart. And she would not put hers in danger of pain, not even for the smooth-talking, empty headed, handsome-faced Prince of the Western Vinkus.

It was later that night that Galinda returned from her own private celebration with her friends. Elphaba was curled up in her bed with her blankets pulled up to her chin, knees curled to her chest beneath the sheets. She was awakened when her roommate opened the door, well past curfew, and knocked into her vanity chair. She cussed under her breath and kicked off her shoes, seeming tired but otherwise sober. Elphie squinted in the darkness, listening to her roommate shuck off her dress and grope for a night gown.

"Miss Galinda?" Elphie asked in the darkness. She heard her roommate jump and gasp a little, obviously frightened by her voice. She expected to be reprimanded, but for the second time that day, the blonde surprised her.

"What is it, Miss Elphaba?" was all the other girl said, her voice thick with her desire to sleep off her night out.

"We are not friends." It was not a question, but rather a statement that needed confirmation.

Galinda was silent as she pulled her nightgown over her head. Elphie heard the fabric brush against her pale skin. She imagined what her roommate's body looked like, out of mere curiosity, and imagined her soft pale skin continued unbroken all the way down to her toes. When she finally responded, she had settled under her own blankets.

"Well, no, Miss Elphie. We're two very . . . stubborn people. _One_ of us more than the other. We needle each other's nerves. We're not friends, no. It would be silly to consider such an endeavor."

Elphaba waited a few minutes. She expected the blond's comment to sting, to hurt, for the reality of her lack of connecting with her roommate to cut deep. But it was something she had already known. She had never tricked herself into thinking they were more than roomie's who got in each other's way an obscene amount of times. So there was no sting in her chest, no warmth, just nothing. She felt the very same as before she had asked the question. She let the silence hang in the air.

"That's what I thought," Elphie finally said.

"Is that all?"

"Mhm. Pleasant dreams, Miss Galinda."

But the tired blond was already snoring delicately into her pillow.


	5. Chapter 4

**Title** Salt & Vinegar

**Author** clocktick

**Summary** Bookverse / Musicalverse. A study on Elphaba's summer with the good Doctor and the development of her relationships with Galinda and Fiyero- the nitty gritty details and trials of life gone unsaid. The scenes that cut to black and the summarized paragraphs. Plot diversion and creative liberty taken.

**Author's Note** _Wow, sorry this took a little longer to get out compared to the other chapters. I have finals this whole week up until Thursday, and I've been spending a lot of time studying. I'm also leaving for Tennessee in a few days and have to pack up my room because when I come home I'll be moving into a new house. So packing and cleaning and working means less computer time for me. But, here it is! I was so mad because I had this all typed up, then my computer died and I lost it all. But, here it is, retyped, goodness help me._

_I promise, next chapter will be more Fiyero. Mmm, Fiyero._

_Enjoy!_

_Love,_

_Wait Just a Clocktick_

--

Elphaba returned, tired, to her dorm room a little after two in the afternoon. Her hand was only a little cramped and other than that she felt empowered. She didn't understand a lot of what she wrote or what Dillamond said. She understood only what her basic knowledge of biology and science allowed. She hadn't wanted to derail his train of thought by asking him inane questions. However, she was anxious; she wanted results. She wanted to help the Animals. How long would this whole process take? Longer than just this summer?

The young woman reveled in the empty room, shucking off her leggings and throwing Galinda's academic shawl onto her flamboyant pink bed. She would have to remember to put it away before her roomie returned to find it out of place. Elphaba undid the braid in her hair, rubbing her fingertips into her scalp. She tried to find comfort in the fact that she had helped Doctor Dillamond take at least one small step toward rendering the Wizard's Bann on Animal Mobility useless. All Animals would be treated just like any other citizen of Oz. The Wizard would realize her intellect, her smarts, her brains, her . . . her drive!

Elphie found herself in the mood to move, so she danced around the empty dorm room daintily. She scrunched her skirt in her fists and held it up around her knees, her bare feet moving with an odd, spastic grace across the hardwood floor. She kept it up until she felt silly and stopped, dropping onto her bed with a listless little bounce. One year had already passed since she had first come to Shiz; since she had first been told that she was a natural adept to Sorcery; since she and Nessarose had graced the doors of this University; since she had first been told that, one day, she would meet the Wizard. The wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Oh, and how she was making good. Going beyond her academics, going beyond the talent that she wielded at her fingertips and lips, going beyond her natural intelligence- going beyond making good in the classroom. She was making _real_ good! It was exciting, exhilarating. Elphie let herself fall back onto her bed, kicking up her heels and letting her skirt pool around her waist as she held her legs up, perpendicular with her body. She crossed and uncrossed her ankles and pointed her pale green toes. Her bony, long legs flexed with the effort to stay bent at the hips. A delight of laughter spilled from her lips and she curled her knees to her chest before shifting herself back into a sitting position.

The door handle jiggled before Galinda opened the door and strode into the room, prim and proper and perfect as ever before. Elphie's heart pounded. She was glad she had stopped her silly childish antics prior to her return. The viper blond would never let her live it down, that was for sure.

"Oh! Miss Elphaba. You startled me. I swear I only just stepped out of the room for a few minutes and poof, there you are! You sneak up like the night, you terrible thing, you. Where have you been all day? Oh! My shawl. Now what is _this_ doing here?" Galinda fingered the black fabric lightly, frowning at its sudden appearance there on her bed. She raised her eyes to the green girl, who sat in a half-guilty silence.

"I borrowed it," Elphaba admitted. "I don't have one, you see, and it's far too hot out for a jacket."

Galinda looked more surprised than angry. "Well, where did you _go_ with it?" She asked, appalled by the idea of her roomie having any sort of social life. Elphie wrinkled her nose and tried not to look too offended.

"I've got a job," she answered. The blond gasped, dropping the shawl back on the bed.

"_Why_?" She asked. "Miss Elphie, _really_. Don't you know how to enjoy yourself? It's summer."

"I enjoy my work." Elphie protested. Galinda eyed her up and down, assuming she was quite crazy.

"What kind of job?" she prodded.

"I'm working for Doctor Dillamond. Cleaning his lab, helping him carry things what he can't. All errand boy work, really." Elphaba didn't feel bad for lying. "What's so wrong with working for the summer? Boq has a job, I hear. It's he working at the Three Queens library?"

Galinda waved one hand absently. "And you enjoy all of that. Really."

"I enjoy working with the Doctor, yes," she said, unsure as to why she was explaining all of this. What did the blond care? "We have wonderful conversations. It's intellectually stimulating."

"Oh, phooey, Miss Elphaba. You have no sense of fun. Do you like this shawl?"

"It's lovely," the green girl answers as expected whenever her roomie asked anything about clothes. Galinda nodded gravely, holding it up between two fingers.

"It is," she agreed. "But I look so terribly dreadful in black. So . . . " she paused a moment, then tossed it across the space between the beds, right into two surprised green hands.

"You're _giving_ it to me?" Elphaba asked in disbelief. "Why . . . ?"

Galinda sighed. "Because you need a shawl and I don't like that one anymore. So just take it, would you, before I change my mind."

Elphaba folded it carefully in her lap. It really was a nice shawl, and she did need one. Her suspicion rose like a wave- if you believed in oceans.

"What's the catch?" She asked, drawing her knees beneath her on the bed, sitting on her calves.

"No catch, Miss Elphaba. _Really_. People love me because I'm _nice_." Galinda smiled pleasantly and tossed those pretty curls over one shoulder.

Elphie snorted. "Yeah. That's the reason."

The blond glared with all her might. "Shut up and show thanks."

The green girl had the sense to look chastised. "You're right. I'm sorry. Thank you, Miss Galinda, for the lovely shawl."

Her roommate smiled widely. "You're _very_ welcome."

The two girls tentatively smiled at one another. It seemed that they had reached a momentary impasse in their not-friendship. It was pleasant and unnerving for the both of them so, without much of a pause, they promptly went back to ignoring that the other one existed.

Later that evening Galinda shooed Elphaba from their room so that Pfannee and Shenshen could come in and gossip and gasp. The green girl didn't mind clearing out of their way, not one bit. So, she went down to visit Nessarose, feeling badly that she had been scarce from her own sister. When she got to the room, she could hear her sister singing a hymn from the other side. Unsure if she really wanted to disturb her, just in case she was feeling extra holy, Elphie knocked quietly.

"Come in!" Nessarose singsonged.

Elphie did, smiling despite herself at the sight of her sister, practically glowing with delight. What had her so happy, she wondered.

"Good evening, Nessa. You seem so happy. What's got your spirits so high?"

Nessa laughed and held up her arms like a small child. Her sister went to her side and heaved her out of her chair, settling her into an overstuffed arm chair as she indicated. Elphaba knelt by her side. Nessa gripped her fingers hard. "Oh, Elphaba! The most wonderful thing happened today. I was sitting with Boq and Delia you know her, she's become such a friend. We were on the grass, and Boq was so kind to wheel me into the shade so I wouldn't freckle. Anyway. We were speaking so nicely and having a good time as good friends should. The next thing I know, Boq is all very nervous and stammering. I tell him to spit it out and he does. Oh, Elphaba! The older students are throwing a party down at the Ozdust and Boq, dear, dear Boq, he's asked _me_ to go with him! Me! He asked me to a _dance_. Oh, Fabala. You're happy for me, aren't you?"

Elphaba took a few moments to allow it to sink it. A frown graced her lips. The very idea of little Nessarose being exposed to such a thing . . . of being forced to face her on immobility any more than she already had to . . . She couldn't _dance_. She would be humiliated! The elder Thropp couldn't possibly allow that to happen. Nessa was her charge. She almost wished she could forbid her sister to go. When she said nothing, Nessarose plowed on.

"I know that Boq is your friend as well and I would never dream of infringing on your friendship. Oh, but Fabala, he's asked me- _me!_ -and I need your blessing. I won't go without your blessing, and if I stay behind I'll hate you for it. I will." Nessa looked at her with big, chocolate eyes. "Elphaba, please try to understand."

She didn't. Her sister had always been so holy, so _content_, without all of those things that the Misses Galinda etcetera needed to be happy. Instead of saying as much, Elphie smiled and squeezed Nessa's hands gently.

"When's the dance?"

The younger Thropp sister made a very graceful, squealing sound and threw her arms around Elphaba's neck, hugging her sister tight, showing her gratitude. "It begins at eight o'clock on Saturday. Galinda is going with Prince Fiyero- how perfect they are together, don't you think? -and I . . . will be going with Master Boq! I believe Miss Galinda planted the idea in Boq's head, I do, but that matters little."

Elphaba snorted. Of course. To discourage Boq's affection for her, she set him up with another girl. But did it have to be her sister? The green girl tried to smile as wide as her irritation would allow. "I'm very happy for you."

Nessa laughed a little girl's laugh. "And you'll come too, won't you Fabala?"

Elphie wrinkled her nose. "Oh, I don't . . . "

"Elphaba, if you love me at all, you'll go!" Her sister accused.

"Yes. Of course, I'll be there for you." She promised, a little resigned. "Do you feel deeply for Boq, Nessa?"

"I do," the younger said, blushing warmly, endearingly. "I know that you are friends as well and–"

"He's just Boq to me, Nessa. Nothing more, nothing less. You worry over nothing."

Nessarose smiled all the wider. "And I have your blessing?"

Elphaba held back a wince. "All of my blessing. I want you to enjoy yourself on Saturday."

Her sister grinned and laughed. "Thank you, Fabala! Thank you!"

She smiled tensely, but the younger Thropp sister was too excited to notice.

--

"Miss Galinda, we've got to talk."

The words surprised Elphie the moment she spoke them. The sound of her own voice was mildly astounding. She hadn't expected to sound so informal. The blond looked up from where she was peering at her toes, a small nail polish brush in hand. One leg was thrown over the edge of her bed, the other bent close to her chest. Her small toes were strained so as to not smear the polish. She looked taken aback, as if she'd known that she had done something wrong.

Elphaba came to stand before the other girl, her hands on her hips. "Did you convince Master Boq to ask Nessarose to that . . . that . . . that _social_ _gathering_ down at the Ozdust this weekend?"

Galinda looked innocently back up at her. "Boq? Is that his name? That small Munchkinlander fellow, right? Goodness me, I've been calling him Bick!"

The green girl shook her head fiercely. "Now is not the time to reflect on your faux pas. You convinced him to ask her, didn't you?"

Her roomie sniffed and turned her attention back to her toes. "And if I did?" She asked. "I thought I was being nice."

Elphaba barked a sharp laugh. "You weren't being _nice_. You just wanted him off your back. He's completely head over heels for you. He'll only hurt my sister."

"Goodness, Miss Elphaba. He's escorting her to a dance, with a group of friends might I add, not wedding her. You can relax now."

But she shook her head only all the more. "I need to decide what's best for her–"

"You're not her Mama, Elphaba Thropp. Now you just leave her be and let her have a fun night." Galinda stretched both legs over the end of her bed and wiggled her toes. She looked up at the green girl, who stood fuming and silence. Astounding her, again, with her ability to be cruel in a momentary heart beat, the blond drawled ( with a certain grace to the art of being shrewd ), "Oh, look. The artichoke is steamed."

Elphie couldn't find her words, so she stomped to her bed and pulled open one of her books, fully intending to ignore the smug face of her popular, pretty, perfect, cruel roommate.

It seemed she had no choice. She would have to attend the party to keep an eye over Nessarose. She was too delicate to be left alone.

Goodness help her.


End file.
